Diarrhea kills 11 people

At least eleven people have died over the last two weeks while dozens of others are still receiving intensive medical treatment following an outbreak of diarrhea in the East Nusa Tenggara regency of Belu on the border with East Timor.

The six worst-hit villages, all of which are located in remote areas of the regency, are Lasaen, Fafoe, Maktihan, Umalor, Haitim and Lalaten.

Bria Yohanis, Belu deputy regent, said here on Tuesday that the local administration had set up a team to handle the disaster, including hospitalizing all infected villagers and dealing with the other problems caused by the epidemic.

He said the diarrhea outbreak had resulted from the poor conditions in the villages.

"All of the fatalities were due to the victims being brought to the hospital late," he said.

According to provincial administration data, a total of 35 persons have died from diarrhea in Alor, Manggarai, Sikka and Belu regencies over the last three months. --JP